Coiling device



' Filed June '23, 1966 Jan. 7, 1969 w $UP|NA ET AL 3,420,080

COILING DEVICE Sheet j of 2 1 Walter R. SUpina I George 'H. FIeming,JR

INVENTOR ATTORNEY Jan. 7, 1969 Filed June 23, 1966 w. R. SUPINA E AL 3,420,080

COILING DEVICE Sheet 2 Ora (D ID I m 6 a N Q Q 0 V v Walter R. Supina lNVENTOR ATTORNEY George H. FIemingJR United States Patent 3,420,080 COILIN G DEVICE Walter R. Supina and George H. Fleming, Jr., State College, Pa., assignors to Applied Science Laboratories, Inc., State College, Pa., a corporation of Pennsylvania Filed June 23, 1966, Ser. No. 559,775

U.S. Cl. 72138 Int. Cl. B21f 3/10 2 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE This invention relates to bending devices and in particular to devices capable of coiling tubing or solids rods.

Very frequently in the chemical analysis for chromatographic art it is found necessary to fabricate a spiral column or tube as a part of a chemical reaction device. Such spiral columns have been made in the past by wrapping metal tubing about some convenient cylindrical object such as a pipe, a commercial cylinder or the like. Such methods are cumbersome, require considerable force, and frequently do not produce a uniform spiral coil. There has not been to the present time, a simple, convenient, hand apparatus for laboratory use by which a coil of tubing or solid rods of any radius can be fabricated. In the foregoing drawings and specifications, reference is made only to the fabrication of tubing. However, it is to be understood that the intent and scope of the invention is meant to include the fabrication of rod stock as well.

It is therefore an object of this invention to produce a simple device by which spiral coils of any diameter may be quickly and easily produced.

It is another object of this invention to produce a tube coiling device by which metal tubing may be easily formed into a circular pattern.

It is still another object of this invention to produce a coiling device which may be operated by hand under laboratory conditions.

These and other objects of the invention and a fuller understanding may be had by referring to the following description and claims, in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in which:

FIGURE 1 is a plan view of the invention with a piece of tubing in the process of being coiled;

FIGURE 2 is an exploded view of the invention of FIGURE 1 partially in section, showing the internal mechanism of the device;

FIGURE 3 is a longitudinal cross-sectional view of the face plate of the invention taken along line 3-3 of FIG- URE 2.

With reference to the drawings, and in particular FIG- URE 1, represents a base element with an ascending neck, supporting a hollow housing 12. A face plate 14 is secured to the front part of housing 12 by means of screws 16 which extend through face plate 14 and into housing '12. An elevation rod 18 having an upper ended threaded portion 19, is rotatably mounted in base v10 and extends vertically upward through a U-shaped yoke 20.

3,420,080 Patented Jan. 7, 1969 Threaded portion 19 engages rotating threads on yoke 20 so that the rotation of elevating rod 18 will thus cause U-shaped yoke 20 to raise or lower, depending which direction the elevating rod 18 is turned. A turning knob 22 is integrally attached to the mid portion of elevating rod 18 permitting it to be easily grasped and turned by hand. Two guide plates 24 are attached to either side of the U-shaped yoke 20 by means of screws 26. Guide plates 24 have guide rails 25 extending perpendicularly therefrom which are positioned between U-shaped yoke 20 and face plate 14 and behind face plate 14. Guide rails 25 allow yoke 20 to slide freely in a vertical direction. The two uppermost portions of the U-s'haped yoke 20 are bifurcated to permit the insertion of two coil forming idler rollers 28 in a plane parallel to the surface of face plate 14. Idler rollers 28 are rotatably attached to the bifurcated portion of U-shaped yoke 20 by means of screws 30 upon which idler rollers 28 rotate. The lateral surface of the idler rollers 28 have a semicircular groove 32 cut therein which is adapted to fit the outer surface of the particular circular tubing 34 which is being bent.

Referring now to FIGURES 1, 2, and 3, an upper drive shaft 38 extends horizontally through the mid portion of face plate 14 and hollow housing 12 above lower drive shaft 36. Lower drive shaft 36 is rotatably mounted in two bearings 40 positioned within face plate 14 and hollow housing 12 respectively. Upper drive shaft 38 passes through a vertical slot 42 and face plate '14 which allows upper drive shaft 38 movement in a vertical direction. The other end portion of the upper drive shaft 38 passes through bearing 44 mounted in slot 42. Slideable bearing 44 is restrained from rotating by a fiat side portion 46 hearing against vertical positioning bar 48 which is mounted vertically on the interior portion of face plate 14. Thus, the forward portion of upper drive shaft 38 is free to move in a vertical direction. A floating self-aligning bearing 50 encircles upper drive shaft 38 in the area where it passes through hollow 'housing 12. The selfaligning bearing is of such a nature that it will allow upper drive shaft 38 to pivot while at the same time to rotate within the bearing 50. Hence, as may be seen, upper drive shaft 38 may move vertically within slideable bearing 44 and at the same time pivot about selfaligning bearing 50.

An upper drive shaft gear 52 integrally mounted upon upper drive shaft 38 within hollow housing 12 meshes with lower drive shaft gear 54, integrally mounted upon lower drive shaft 36. Both upper and lower drive shaft gears 52 and 54 are integrally secured to upper and lower drive shaft 38 and 36 by keys and set screws (not shown) that will remain integral when considerable pressure is applied. Upper and lower drive shaft gears 52 and 54 remain engaged when upper drive shaft 38 is pivoted about self-aligning bearing 50.

Lower drive shaft 36 extends outward from the rear of housing -12 Where it is integrally attached to crank 56 upon the end of which is mounted handle 58 which may be grasped and turned thus turning lower and upper drive shafts 36 and 38. Upper drive roller 60 is integrally mounted upon the portion of upper drive shaft 38 extending from base plate 14, by means of set screws and keys. Lower drive roller 62 is similarly mounted on the portion of lower drive shaft 36 directly below upper roller 60'. Both upper drive roller 60 and lower drive roller 62 have semicircular grooves extending laterally around them to permit the insertion of tubing of the appropriate size. Thumb screw 64 is vertically in screwable connection through the top guide plate 14 to bear upon self-aligning bearing 44 to force it downward. Thus as may be seen, pressure may be applied to tubing 34 which is inserted between upper drive roller 60 and lower drive roller 62 by turning pressure adjusting thumb screw 64. Upon the rotation of lower drive shaft 36 by crank 50 tubing 34 is rolled into the drive rollers 60 and 62. Both drive rollers 60 and 62 rotate together because of the engagement of upper drive shaft 50 With lower drive shaft gear 54. A scale 68 is perpendicularly positioned on the forward lateral portion of base plate 14 and the position of U-shaped yoke noted thereon by the upper surface of guide plate 24. By this means it is possible to reposition U-shaped yoke 20 in a predetermined height so as to bend the hollow tubing at a predetermined radius. Upper and lower drive rollers 60 and 62 as well as idler rollers 20 may be replaced to accommodate tubing 34 of a different diameter.

In operation, pressure adjusting thumb screw 64 is turned so as to allow upper drive roller 60 to move vertically upward and admit the end portion of the tubing 34 to be bent. The tubing 34 is then placed within upper drive roller 60 and lower drive roller 62 and the pressure adjusting thumb screw 64 is tightened so as to cause upper drive roller 60 to bear against the tubing 34. A portion of the tubing 34 to be bent extends beyond the drive rollers so as to be engaged by coil forming idler rollers 28. Knob 22 and attached elevation rod 18 are then turned causing U-shaped yoke 20 to rise and coil formed idler rollers 28 to bear against the tubing 34. The amount of radius of the finished coil depends upon the height at which coil forming idler rollers 28 are raised. This height may be noted on scale 68 to obtain the radius desired. The handle 58 is then grasped to turn crank 56 and upper and lower drive rollers 60 and 62. This tubing is thus bent into a circular column as long as the handle 58 is turned. When the column has been completed, pressure adjusting thumb screw 54 is loosened allowing upper drive roller 60 to rise and release the tubing which slides free of slot 70 in the outer portion of lower drive roller 62.

As may be seen, in addition to forming a straight spiral coil the tubing may be bent at a particular radius in one direction, reinserted and bent at an angle at different radius in another direction, thus forming an unusual configuration. Likewise, the radius of the tubing 34 may be varied by rotating elevation rod 18 while crank 56 is being turned.

It is understood that the device heretofore described is by Way of example only and it is anticipated that numerous modifications may be made without departing from the spirit or scope of the invention.

What is claimed is:

1. A coiling device for bending tubing comprising in combination:

a base;

drive wheels rotatably mounted on said base, said drive wheels adjacently positioned to one another and adapted to roll said tubing between them;

drive means attached to said drive wheels to cause said drive wheels to rotate; a bending member slideably positioned upon said base; an adjusting rod attached to said bending member to cause said bending member to slide upon said base;

said bending member comprises a slideable element sildeable upon said base and idler Wheels rotatably mounted on said slideable element adapted to form said tubing into a coil;

said drive wheels comprise;

a lower drive wheel rotatably mounted on said base;

an upper drive wheel slideably positioned on said base;

sliding means to allow said upper drive wheel to slide away from said lower drive wheel to accommodate the insertion of said tubing between said upper and lower drive wheels;

pressure means comprising a thumb screw positioned on said base to press said upper drive wheel against said tubing to be coiled;

said drive means being removably mounted to accommodate the rolling of tubing of varying diameters;

said drive means comprise gearing means mounted on said upper and lower drive wheels to cause said upper and lower drive wheels to turn simultaneously and a hand crank connected to said gearing means to rotate same;

said adjusting rod being screwably attached to said slideable element and rotatably attached to said base;

said sliding means is an upper shaft upon which is mounted said upper drive wheel;

a slideable bearing mounted upon said upper shaft, said slideable bearing positioned in a slot with said base adjacent to said upper drive wheel;

a self-aligning bearing positioned upon said upper drive shaft within said base;

whereby said upper drive shaft will pivot upon said self-aligning bearing and slide said slideable bearing with said slot.

2. In a coiling device for bending tubing having an upper and a lower drivable wheel adjacently positioned to one another on a housing and adapted to roll tubing therebetween, said driveable wheels having peripheral grooves, bending means comprising grooved idler wheels adjustably mounted upon the housing adjacent said lower driveable wheels, a sliding means to allow said upper driveable wheel to slide away from said lower driveable wheel, said sliding means comprising in combination:

an upper drive shaft upon which said upper wheel is rotatably mounted;

a slideable bearing mounted upon said upper shaft, said slideable bearing positioned in a slot within said housing adjacent to said upper driveable wheel;

a self-aligning bearing positioned upon said upper drive shaft within said housing;

whereby, when said upper drive shaft will pivot upon said self-aligning bearing and slide said slideable bearing within said slot, said upper driveable wheel will assume an angular position relative to said lower driveable wheel thereby forming said tubing in a helical configuration.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 66,265 7/1867 Taylor et al. 72-173 X 383,391 5/1888 Everson 72-173 X 437,540 9/1890 Watt 72-175 469,763 3/1892 Williams 72-170 X 521,417 6/1894 Orr 72-175 551,827 12/1895 Litchfield 72-175 X 659,936 10/1900 Morris 72-174 X 677,142 6/1901 Richardson et al. 72-175 MILTON S. MEI-IR, Primary Examiner.

US. Cl. X.R. 

